Garbage Service

Your garbage cart must be at your collection point on your collection day, by 6:00 a.m. each week.

Customers are provided with a garbage cart, either a small, or a large cart. City crews deliver and maintain all carts.

All garbage must be contained inside of the cart, with lid closed. No other type garbage cart is allowed to be used. Garbage is not collected from non-City garbage carts/cans.

Two extra items may be disposed of each week. Items must be boxed, bundled, or bagged and placed next to your garbage cart. See Extra Garbage.

Collection day is assigned by the Solid Waste & Recycling Division. Routes are created so the division works in the most cost-effective way. Therefore your day cannot be changed. Look up your collection day.

In the winter, remember to shovel a 3 foot wide path to your cart, including snow left by the plow. See Snow Shoveling.

We appreciate your business. It is not legal to tip your hauler to take additional items. See " Special Clean Up".

How to Prepare Your Garbage

Garbage needs to be bagged or wrapped and placed in the cart. Do not place loose garbage in your cart. This prevents the cart from being emptied completely and leads to a dirty and smelly cart.

Maximum weight for a large cart and contents is 200 pounds.

Collection Time

Your Garbage pickup could be any time from 6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on your collection day. You many notice that your garbage is picked about the same time every week. Please understand that changes in weather conditions, crew assignment, and equipment problems can create your pickup to be earlier or later in the day. Please, make sure it's always out by 6:00 a.m. on your collection day.

Missed Garbage

Sorry, but we will not come back if you did not get your cart out on time. The crew does report that your cart was not out for pickup.

Holiday Schedule

When your collection day falls on or after a holiday, garbage collection will be one day later than normal. See the Holiday Schedule for more information.

Educational tags

Our crews use a variety of color coded tags to educate you when something needs to be fixed at your collection area. If you don’t understand the tag, please give our office a call at (612) 673-2917, and we can help. Your collection area is considered to be anywhere within 20 feet of the alley line or curb.

How do I start my garbage service?

When you sign up for Water service with the Minneapolis Utility Billing office, you automatically become a Solid Waste & Recycling customer if you are an owner of any property that is four (4) units or less in the City of Minneapolis. You are charged a base fee for each dwelling unit, as registered with the Department of Inspections.

The number of carts and recycling bins at your service address are what the previous owner needed for their weekly services. You will continue to have these for your weekly garbage and recycling use, but if you wish to increase or decrease the number of garbage carts or recycling bins you have, please contact our office at (612) 673-2917.

Don't be confused if you see a garbage truck that is not a City of Minneapolis truck, as another company collects parts of the City. This contractor provides only garbage and recycling collection services. All questions, problems or concerns should be directed to our office at (612) 673-2917.

I want to hire my own garbage hauler!

Sorry. City of Minneapolis Ordinance 225.600 requires City collection, removal and disposal of contained solid waste from all residential buildings containing not more than four (4) dwelling units and from all townhouses as defined in this chapter.

Report Illegal Dumping or Garbage Abuses - Dial 311

Garbage collection is a special service to our paying customers only. Taking or using another resident's collection point is illegal. City Ordinance 225.10 states in part: "No person shall leave, throw, or deposit, or use or permit any other person to leave, place, throw, or deposit, any substances or materials of any kind at a city solid waste collection point for city disposal when the substances or materials were generated at a location other than the residence."

If you see illegal dumping anywhere in the City of Minneapolis, please report it. Write down the license number, vehicle description, person involved in the dumping, and the item that was dumped, and report it by dialing 311. If you wish, your call will remain anonymous.

What happens to my garbage?

None of your garbage goes into a landfill. City of Minneapolis garbage goes to the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center. (HERC).

Located in downtown Minneapolis, the HERC facility uses mass burn technology to convert 365,000 tons of garbage a year into electricity that is sold to Xcel Energy, Inc.

QUICK LINKS

Accessibility: For reasonable accommodations or alternative formats, contact 311. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use a relay service to call 311 at 612-673-3000. TTY users can call 612-673-2157 or 612-673-2626.